The last time I used this image by Phil Foglio for one of my blog posts, it was after we had 28 inches of snow fall in New England. This past week I again missed out on getting some casual EDH games in on my usual Tuesday night, but this time it was thanks to a much smaller storm. It was still enough for our LGS to decide to close up early.
I did work up a new deck this week. It's a mono-blue build around Kira, Great Glass-Spinner and it's built to hopefully take advantage of her party trick - to protect your creatures by countering the first spell or ability targeting each one each turn. It's got much of the leftovers from my unsuccessful Slinn Voda deck and I'm optimistic that it will do better. I included the decklist with this week's article over on CoolStuffInc.com and you can check it out tomorrow when my column is posted.
I rolled into our weekly EDH league having fallen from first place to third place. I've still got a strong deck this month, but I don't have any real hope of climbing back up to the top spot. We've got a couple of really good players on Marath and Animar who have been really playing at a high level this month.
EDH League
Round One
In my first game I happened to get placed at a table with the Marath player who was in first place. We were joined by one of the league's better players on a Bruse Tarl / Akiri partners deck and a Lazav, the Multifarious deck.
We were all wary of the Marath player going off, but my Najeela deck is really built more like a dragster than a tank. Its goal is really to outrace everyone and doesn't pack much removal. Yeah, I know - that's bad deckbuilding. If you build decks like that you have to know that there will be games where you just don't have answers and can't interact enough to win the game. I've got interactive decks, but Najeela just wants to jump into infinite combat turns or drop a Mirror Entity or Beastmaster's Ascension and overwhelm you more quickly.
In the early game I think it was the Lazav player who forced us to wheel. I had to watch my Sword of Feast and Famine go into the graveyard, so that wasn't a great start. I then made an early misplay, casting Combat Celebrant so that I could have a body on the field, but not thinking about how easy it would be for Marath to ding it. CC is a 4/1 and combos with Kiki-Jiki, so it didn't survive to the end of my turn. Feeling a little dumb, but still not too hopeless, I soldiered on.
The Marath player was soon spiralling out of control. A Parallel Lives and Cathar's Crusade hit the field and before long his board was getting a little ridiculous. Other players were helping out with answers, but things looked bad for the table.
I was able to draw into a Bear Umbra and a Cyclonic Rift and knew I had a chance, however slim, to try to go for the win. Bear Umbra and Najeela combo if you have lands to make all your colors - which I did - and let you launch into infinite combat steps.
The Lazav player had been working hard to keep Marath from winning and when he used a targeted removal spell on Marath I had a brief moment of hope that the window would be open for me to go for the win. Unfortunately, before dying Marath pinged my Najeela to death and my Commander Tax was going to make it impossible for me to Cyclonic Rift on Lazav's end step and then on my turn go for the win.
I wound up playing some other creatures and waiting for another chance. It didn't take long. I got Najeela out again and on the end step of the player before me (Lazav), I overloaded my Rift. We were all going to die to a Marath elemental army alpha strike on Marath's next turn, so it was a defensive move. I have a feeling that I've got the sequence of all this a bit muddled, but either on my next turn or on my turn after that I had everyone tapped out except the Marath player, who had one land untapped.
I had no way to protect it, but I also didn't think I'd get another chance so I went for the win. I cast Bear Umbra on Najeela. Nobody had any responses. I was optimistic. I thought maybe, just maybe, I had caught the table with its proverbial pants down....
The Marath player did have that untapped land, though.
He hadn't done anything when I went to cast Bear Umbra, which was a little surprising, but just casting Bear Umbra doesn't win the game. Maybe he had upped his game and was trying to play at that "higher level" we all aspire to, where we play things at the right time, sequence our spells just right and actually care about efficiency. I know - crazy talk, right? I play way too sloppy way too often, but in casual games I tend to relax and enjoy myself. I enjoy playing well, but even in league games I'm rarely hyper-focused on playing optimally.
The Marath player was apparently trying to up his game, and much (well... slightly) to my chagrin, he was succeeding.
I moved to combat.
He tapped that untapped land for white mana and used a Swords to Plowshares on Najeela.
The crisis (for everyone else) was averted.
The game continued but my Commander Tax was getting so high that it was unlikely I was going to be able to cast my commander and mount any serious threat. Marath had been ramping as much as I had - we both ended the game with a dozen lands on the field - but I had been playing through my cards in hand and was nearly hellbent. Everyone else had the luxury (ha!) of having their nonland permanents bounced by my Cyclonic Rift.
Before long the Marath player had their commander and all their key pieces out. I had a Kindred Summons in hand and no creatures, so I was dead in the water. When the Marath player had cast their commander, I made lemonade out of my lemons by bluffing that I had a counterspell and convincing the Marath player to send his attacks elsewhere in exchange for my allowing his commander to resolve.
I think I was able to cast Najeela one last time, but before long our hour and 45 minute slog of a game was over. Marath, unsurprisingly, was too resilient and too strong for us and he won the game. I had managed to come close to the win, and had amused myself and enjoyed the game except for the not-winning part... which sometimes can't be helped. All kidding aside, the Marath player earned it and I do expect him to finish up the month in first place. He's never won a month in our league, so I'll be happy for him if he can pull it off.
We were the last table to finish, so we started round two right away.
Round Two
As fate would have it, I got placed with three of the best decks in the room outside of the two that were vying for our month's top spot. My table was made up of two apparently similar decks, one led by Karador and the other by Tymna & Reyhan. The last player was every bit as strong as the other two and was on his cEDH Selvala build. It's a budget list but still blows the doors off of tables with relative ease.
I was tempted to play my new Kira, Great Glass-Spinner deck because I genuinely didn't think any deck I had would have a shot at the win and I figured I might be able to stop someone from doing something if I played Kira - even if I probably woudn't win.
While that sounds pretty negative, I had just come off of a pretty frustrating game where my Najeela got removed way too many time for my liking. This table was going to be full of super fast combo decks but I also assumed they'd be packing reams of removal, so I didn't want to dive headfirst into the wood chipper.
Then I thought about the fact that the previous week I had actually won a game on turn five with Najeela.
Turn five is the earliest one can win a game in our league without incurring penalties.
Why not give her a try. I figured i'd be losing the game anyways, so why not?
The game didn't last long.
In the early game Selvala came out but I think he got removed. I was able to play Najeela and I had Combat Celebrant and Time of Need in hand, so at a slower table I probably could have gone for the win. I was able to play a Ruby Medallion to try to set myself up for a turn where I'd go for the Kiki-Jiki win. I also used a Goblin Cratermaker to kill the Karador player's Fauna Shaman, but on the Tymna & Reyhan player's turn he combo'ed off for the win.
See what I mean? It must have been turn five, but if it was earlier than that nobody realized it and we didn't remind the Tymna player of the early win penalty points. He's a very good player and pretty sharp, so I have to assume he had waited until turn five to go off. That might not seem like much, but most of us don't want short combo losses and having to wait until turn five gives everyone a chance to maybe find an answer. We're usually just tapped out and playing like it's a normal battlecruiser game, but every now and then someone has a way to stop the cEDH players. Apparently my blowing up of the Fauna Shaman was a good play, but having to deal with that many fast combo decks didn't exactly fill me with glee.
I wasn't "in a mood" but I also wasn't exactly thrilled with how my games were going. I had abandoned any hope of winning the month, but I always want to get a win on the day. Getting a win each month is my initial goal, but the reality is that I always try to not go 0-2 on a Saturday. My two losses put me at 3-3 on the month and guaranteed that I woudn't be climbing back into the top two. I was totally fine with that, but would have liked to have a win on the day.
With a ridiculously quick round two out of the way, we shuffled up to play a more casual game.
Pickup Game
When we play casual games, even on a League day, I have always felt that if a deck had actually never been played, it's not unreasonable to view it as an unknown quantity. You might think it'll be super powerful, but until it sees play you don't really know. I mean... you might have a pretty good idea, but the proof is in the pudding. I've been overly optimistic about my decks before.
I decided to trot out my Kira, Great Glass-Spinner deck for our pickup game.
Kira protects your creatures by giving them the ability to counter the first opponent's spell or ability that targets them each turn. I built the deck with some wincons I usually expect to draw targeted removal. That means Deadeye Navigator combo along with some infinite mana sinks are in the list. I also run Blightsteel and Darksteel Colossus and ways to cheat them onto the battlefield. There's a slot of counterspells in there too, along with Cyclonic Rift. I actually built the deck in part to play against Marath, hoping to have answers to stuff like Concordant Crossroads and Doubling Season.
The Karador player switched to Niv-Mizzet, Parun. The winner of our round two game switched to a new Kalemne build he had thrown together. The Selvala player switch to Ramos, Dragon Engine. I had no idea what he'd be doing with his deck, but was somewhat excited to see what direction he had taken it in. Ramos is nothing if not ridiculously versatile as a commander.
I started the game with Dramatic Reversal and Isochron Scepter in hand, but with no mana rocks to speak of. I was able to play Kira and an early Nykthos, Shrine to Nyk. The Ramos player got a planeswalker out and a Dissipation Field. The Kalemne player got the best start, throwing damage around the table pretty freely. I expect coming off such a strong win, he was happy to chill out, enjoy the game and not necessarily kick anyone to the curb any earlier than necessary. I think he could have killed (or tried to kill) someone early in the game if he had wanted to.
Before I go on, I should note that this is the same Kalemne that I have often mocked as being the worst of the experience counter commanders. I greatly admire players who can play and build decks at a high enough level that they will embrace the challenge of trying to make a "bad" color combination or a "weak" general work. This guy is among the top players in our meta and it's nice to see him pushing himself to do something as inadvisable as trying to make Kalemne work. If anyone can do it, he can.
He's not the only good player i our meta, of course. The Niv-Mizzet player took a few punches to the face for a few turns and then tried to cast an Epic Experiment for 7. Knowing how strong that spell is from playing in my old Ramos storm list, I decided to discard an Island and a blue card and cast Foil to counter it, despite not having any open mana. He wasn't thrilled by that, but I didn't want to just punt the game and let a spell like that go off. If I had gotten a win earlier in the day, I might have, but countering it was the right play.
A couple of turns later he had gotten it back and he tried to cast it again - possibly for 9 this time. I had all of my mana open and cast a Torrential Gearhulk to re-cast my Foil to counter it a second time. I felt a little bad, but in retrospect the real missed opportunity was that he didn't take a moment to dramatically shout "Curses - foiled again!".
The Niv-Mizzet player had a few things out to let us all draw additional cards, so when he scooped out of the game I had additional reasons to feel bad that he was leaving. I had played a Gilded Lotus but didn't have any way to use infinite mana so my dramatic scepter combo was still in hand.
The Kalemne player went to swing lethal on the Ramos player, and for some reason I decided to use Aetherspouts to save him. I do that sometimes in casual games if a player isn't ready to be done yet, and it just seemed like the thing to do. I've lost games after such acts of charity, but I didn't have any way to win yet and the longer I could give the Kalemne player another possible target to swing at, the better.
Before long the Ramos player was murdered by the Kalemne player. Ramos seemed to be playing superfriends. He apparently had a doubling season and some decent planeswalkers in hand, so it was no great tragedy (for us) that he was out of the game before getting a chance to play out his hand.
I was faced with a decent aggro deck piloted by a great player. I had my Kira on the field along with a Relic of Progenitus and a Mirage Mirror. I had actually played my Isochron Scepter and my own Dissipation Field, in part because the Ramos player had been forcing us to discard cards and I was very wary of getting caught without other cards to be able to ditch. Having the combo on the field made it vulnerable to removal, but that was better than having to discard it and not being able to get it back out of the graveyard.
I had infinite mana but nothing useful to do with it.
I made my Mirage Mirror a copy of Relic of Progeniutus and then cracked Relic to exile all graveyards and draw a card. Unfortunately it wasn't one that would help my cause. I then cracked my Mirage Mirror Relic of Progenitus but again didn't draw into anything helpful.
The Kalemne player, not having any better options, swung at me and my Dissipation Field bounced his attackers to his hand. I think at that point it was Godo and Kalemne. He wasn't running Helm of the Hosts, but I'm guessing he might add that into the list. He's usually not shy about optimizing his decks, so it's slightly surprising that Godo Helm wasn't in there already.
After a couple more turns I finally drew into a tutor, grabbed Stroke of Genius from my library and forced my last opponent to draw a googleplex worth of cards. I don't even know how much a googleplex really is, but I know it's a lot and was probably enough to force him to draw out. It was. I joke that it's one of those terms smart folks use instead of just picking a big number, but I also like the way it sounds. It's a silly word. I actually just googled, it, which in itself is a little funny, but the bottom line is that it's way more than 100.
It was really nice to have a deck not only work but win on it's first time out. That doesn't happen that often for me, so when it does it definitely brightens my mood.
Final Thoughts
With a win under my belt, I turned my attention to running the points for the league.
I was correct that the Marath and Animar players would retain their top spots. The gap between them is three points smaller, so going into next weekend either of them could win the month.
My own position dropped from third to fourth place, thanks in no small part to the big jerk who combo'ed off in my round two, crushing my hope and dreams and vaulting past me into the third spot.
All kidding aside, he's a good guy, a great player, and I should probably at some point build a stronger deck than my Najeela red Goblin Warriors build.
I keep thinking about FC Tazri, just to have something that is ridiculously good, but in truth I think it's possible my Najeela deck is close enough to that level for my taste. Anything over a 50% win rate is pretty ridiculous and my Najeela is around there. I still don't think she could have beaten that round two table - those guys are fantastic and were all playing their best decks - but sometimes that will happen.
As I said - diving headfirst into the wood chipper doesn't hurt that badly and it usually winds up being a short game. I'm sure that's how my tablemates felt when I won with Najeela in record time. Great decks can be hard to deal with. In the end, it's just a game.
That's all I've got today. All in all, I'm happy with how things have been going. Hopefully this week I'll even get some games in on our weekly casual night.
Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!